Galatia schools compliant with lead testing

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">GALATIA &ndash; Though some area schools will have to conduct lead testing in water supplies, Galatia schools are already ahead of the curve, Superintendent Beth Rister said Thursday.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">On Monday, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into a law mandating lead testing for many Illinois school buildings. Schools built prior to 1987 must be tested by the end of the year, while those built between 1987 and 2000 must be tested by the end of 2018.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Rister said thanks to the Village of Galatia, her schools already are compliant.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">&ldquo;I have to give all the credit to the village. They knew was coming down the pike,&rdquo; Rister said. &ldquo;They told us they had something going on with their water system, where they were doing repairs. They offered to test the water at the schools, too. Everything was good.&rdquo;

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">She said the village tested water supplies on each level of each school so that no potential student exposure was overlooked. All testing, she said, came back well under the state threshold for lead in drinking water.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Rister said she greatly appreciated the village offering their help to the school system.